What I cooked today:
Meatloaf: I wanted to try making meatloaf in my new toaster oven. The theory being that I didn't have to heat up the entire oven, I could just use the toaster oven. It actually worked!! I was really shocked, but it worked out great! Unfortunately, when I made up the sauce to put on the top of the meatloaf, I added a little too much dry mustard. The result was similar to cocktail sauce... very spicy! Patrick loved it, while the kids and I scraped most of it off the top. It's a good thing that meatloaf works well with ketchup!
Homemade Onion Dip: I've been craving onion soup mix dip for the last few days, although Patrick hates the smell. Since he was gone, I thought I'd spoil myself. But I couldn't find any onion soup mix. So, I went online and found that it's really just onion powder and beef bouillon (with some onion flakes, salt and pepper). Well, I had onion powder and beef bouillon, so I just tossed a little bit of each, and then added some sour cream. It was so yummy! I only made a small amount (since I probably could have eaten then entire 16 oz container of sour cream if I had made that much), but I can always make more another day!
Update:
Allen and I went into the school today. He needed to get tested, to make sure that he didn't have an lasting effects of a concussion (it's a computer test, that check's memory and stuff like that). While there, we set up Allen's schedule for next year. He'll be taking a high school World History class as his elective, which means he'll get to take 2 history classes. He also gets to take 9th grade science, which he is excited about.
We also discussed the computer course that Patrick (and I) will be mentoring. It's an online course, so he (we) won't have to do much, but answer questions and hold hands. But it will be fun! The first semester will be a Web Design class, and the second semester will be a Game Design class. I think Patrick's more excited about the second semester!
After our adventures at the school, we came home, and complained about the heat. Sometime around 4:30, we heard a very loud 'SNAP'. About 3 nights ago, I was woken up by a scratching sound next to my end stand. I woke up, moved the end stand, to find nothing. We set a mouse trap, but came to the conclusion that the rodent making the noise was actually in the walls. Prevented from doing anything, I forced myself to just go back to sleep.
Last night, Katie came into my bedroom around 3am, saying that there was a mouse in her room. She couldn't sleep because of the scratching noise on the wall next to her bed. Ugh. So, we set a trap, and yet she was unable to sleep with images of rodents crawling across her bed. I let her sleep with us for a few hours, before sending her back to her bed around dawn.
So, when we heard this very loud 'SNAP', we both knew what it was. I asked her to stay outside her bedroom, while I checked the trap. I was very grateful that the rodent was not still alive. The trap had conveniently snapped down on his back, and it never knew what hit it. However, I was confused. This was the smallest mouse I had ever seen. And it looked a little strange.
I immediately called my husband (who was in town with his dad) and asked him what to do about this dead rodent. He told me to put it in the freezer. Oh yea, like that was going to happen. So, I hung up the phone, put on gloves, and picked up the trap (with the rodent attached). It had a very long nose and small beady little eyes. I placed the trap, and the rodent, into a ziploc bag, and then a second ziploc bag, just in case. Now, I was able to observe the rodent closer, without getting too freaked out.
After much deliberation, I decided it looked just like this:
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| (this picture is from Wikipedia... this is not the actual animal from the trap... that one was dead. |
Yes, it was a shrew. Really cute little thing, but I'm kind of hoping that it didn't have any family or friends around the house. I'm not looking forward to another night of scratching in my walls.
Later this evening, Patrick went up to help his dad with the new greenhouse. And, as the story goes, Grandpa almost stepped on a rattlesnake tonight. Patrick grabbed the post-hole digger and cut it in half (and then the kept the rattles). We haven't seen as many snakes this summer, so we've gotten a little complacent. I was very upset that they didn't get a picture of the snake, but I guess my little shrew will have to do.
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